Seven Steps from Snowdon to Everest: A Hill Walker's Journey to the Top of the World

An honest , enjoyable,witty account of the ten years to summit Everest .. written from a completely different perspective of someone who loved the mountains and climbed for the love of it . A realistic account of the terror and fear that one would feel 28000 feet above and that’s what makes it so personal and relatable .

Nicely captured by Mark. I have few read other diaries (The Chomolungma Diaries, The ascent of Manaslu) written by the same author and it not only depicts the fact of the hardness faced by a mountaineer in the high altitude but also how much it can be enjoyed in a commercial expedition. I would recommend this book as a must read to all those so called arm chair mountaineers who keeps on saying Everest is easy & become a honeymoon climb while sipping a drink in the warm room to understand that climbing Everest is still the same as it was before.

Loved every bit of the book, especially the mountaineering history added in as each mountain or peak was attempted, totally identified with most of the experiences in Nepal!

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Love writing style, also read Mark's other books, and regular reader of his blog.

So fun and relatable, great to see mountain adventures of a regular guy, written in a great style.

El libro de sale de los estereotipos de montañero de éxito que cuenta las grandes hazañas como si fueran fáciles. Este libro refleja la realidad de como una persona normal consigue subir al Everest y el esfuerzo y los pasos que le suponen hasta conseguirlo desde un punto de vista humano y con grandes dotes de realidad.

What a book !!! A book that I fancied reading after reading the blurb. At the beginning a thought I'd made a mistake as it was a little slow. As i ventured further into the book I was hooked and found it compelling reading. It is light hearted in places. A thoroughly enjoyable read with a very detailed account of what really happens and the amount of work needed to achieve a dream\goal, the message all the way through to keep going a d not to give up. To reach your goa!l is quite an achievement. I am really inspired. I will keep this book and reread at a later date. I'd recommend this book to anyone who love a good true story.an inspiration to others who are thinking of climbing Everest for a challenging climb, loaded with information

Great book! Once again, Mark writes in such excellent style, you really enjoy reading his books. Seven Steps takes his entire journey which I've read parts of in his other books, and puts it all together into a cogent story. You now have the "oh, now I get it" moment to his story. As an old man now, I particularly love reading through his adventures and wish I had pushed myself earlier, but I guess living through these type stories has to be enough for now--maybe a 14er or two in Colorado might suffice! One particular aspect of the 8,000 meter peaks that Mark really makes apparent, that I have not gotten as graphically in other written literature is the fact that fatigue, a twisted ankle, a slip, or simply drifting off for a "nap" can end your life AFTER YOU'VE SUCCESSFULLY SUMMITED! WOW! I also appreciate his commentary on the media reporting on Everest; his experience clearly shows it's no cake-walk, regardless of how easily one can afford it. It can just as easily take your life, regardless of your means. Excellent book, well worth the read, regardless of whether you're a climber or not!

The title says it all! Horrell (a well-known climber) lays out his path from casual hill-walking to ascending Everest and other massive peaks. It's an entertaining book; Horrell is jokey, laddish, and quite humble; there are tons of useful and interesting details for mountaineers/aspiring climbers/armchair adventurers, including the things most often left out in more grandiose chronicles (your toilet questions will be answered!). There's quite a bit of mountaineering history, which you'll probably already know, but it does add context.Note: It might be a cultural difference, or the fact that this is a 2015 book, but I want to note that Horrell's "lad" approach can read a bit homophobic in places - "as useful as a policeman in a leotard" type jokes and lots of uncomfortable jokes about physical contact between guys. It's clearly not meant to offend, but it's noticeable, and I would want readers to know that this is definitely the tone throughout.While it's not a high-drama mountain tale in the Krakauer vein, I would recommend Seven Steps highly for actual mountaineers (it was actually recommended to me by a climbing coach) as it's so detailed and human. Horrell is, again, humble, a guy who works very hard and happily does guided climbs but is not going to get all snooty about "alpinism" or no-oxygen accents - kinda refreshing.